Category: Greatest Hits

The 1970s in the Soviet Union are often known as the time of stagnation. The economy was doing rather poorly, and the new leader, Leonid Brezhnev, backpedaled many of the reforms that had been made under Khrushchev. However, one positive that many Soviet people found was life in communal apartments. While there were definitely some […]

Russian education has long been criticized throughout the world as too structured, too easy to obtain, and backward- looking. While this may be true in many regards, it has also made Russia the most educated country in the world, in terms of people with college degrees. This focus on education began after Vladimir Lenin realized […]

With Stalin’s death on March 5th, 1953, the Soviet Union found itself at a crossroads unable to look back on the past, but also uncertain about the future. Gone was the man who had industrialized the nation, won the Great Patriotic War, and turned the Soviet Union into a legitimate world power. After the death […]

With Nikita Khrushchev coming to power after the death of Stalin in 1953, the days of the traditional thief, also known as the Vory neared the end of their power reign. The Vory are a group of professional thieves(thief in law) mostly located in the Gulag system. They are known for their complex tattoos, their … Continue reading →

Jazz. Fear. Those two words are never seen together. Jazz; a great up beat tune that has impacted musical history as well as American history. Fear; an emotion of uneasiness when the thought of danger is present. The feelings of the two are practically polar opposites. But the post-WWII USSR found these two words floating […]

Since man had the capability to harness fire and chisel rock, we have had a thirst and want to wage war. War is among the most ancient and storied of human practices, and as a result there is an emotional undercurrent stronger than that of many of today’s religious practices. This emotional undercurrent is such that … Continue reading “…There is no Fear in Love…”→

The second world war was one of the most defining if not the single most defining event for the Russian people perhaps of all time. The Soviet Union was brutally attacked after the formation of a non-aggression pact with their invaders, the Germans. Hitler’s campaign was one aimed at annihilation and extermination rather than at […]

Russia and the Soviet union is of course a large state and within its borders falls many different ethnic groups. following the mas culture Push by the party regional and ethnic cultures still remained. among these groups there was a special case, that of the Jewish people. The Jews have historically been a prosecuted people […]

The early 1900’s brought a new type of thinking group and movement to the surface of Russian art and literature. This new movement, called Futurism, was inspired by the modernization of Russia and the new and emerging technologies that were taking over countries from Washington DC to Moscow. This new type of art focused on … Continue reading Russians Ditch the Past and Turn the Future Red→